Hospital garment

ABSTRACT

A hospital garment with releasable seams allows medical personnel to easily access the body of a patient. The garment may include a top, a pant, or both.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/182,668, titled “Hospital Gown”, filed May 29, 2009, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to medical devices. The invention more specifically provides various embodiments of a hospital garment for patients.

2. Description of Related Art

Most clothing worn by patients in a hospital or doctor's office setting is designed for the convenience of the medical professionals and not necessarily for the convenience or comfort of the wearer. The very nature of the medical profession requires that various persons involved in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of a patient have the ability to access various parts of the body of the patients with whom they are working. These professionals must have the ability to quickly access various portions of a patient's body to be able to conduct a variety of functions including performing health assessments, taking vital signs, performing physical examinations, and attaching various apparatuses associated with these procedures to the body of a patient.

In addition to the required procedural access, the placement of items onto or within a patient's body may result in a requirement for devices, such as intravenous lines or cardiac monitoring devices, with leads that extend for some distance away from the body of the patient. These leads also require accessibility.

In order to accommodate these conditions, most prior art patient coverings include large, gaping openings. While these garments do provide access to the body of a patient by a medical professional, these same large, gaping openings also cause the body of the person wearing the garment to be left exposed. This further limits the already limited privacy and even the warmth of the patient. The patient therefore ends up being not only embarrassed, but physically uncomfortable as well.

Prior art hospital gowns are typically knee length garments, consisting of large sheets of cloth material with neck and waist ties. The gowns are generally put on while patients are standing, lying, or sitting, and are retained by joining the neck and waist ties at the back sides of patients. Although numerous alternatives to current gowns have been developed, as yet none have received widespread acceptance because of complexity, high cost, and functional limitations.

One of the biggest problems with prior art hospital gowns is that during many examinations and procedures, the patient must be elevated or turned to release neck or waist ties and raise or lower his hospital gown. Elevating and turning patients are not easy tasks, particularly when only a single nurse is available and patients are heavy and/or have limited mobility. In some cases, examinations and procedures are delayed until sufficient resources are available for lifting and turning patients. Another drawback is that elevating and turning patients causes discomfort in some patients.

There exists a need for a hospital garment that provides the access that the medical professionals need, but also considers the needs and comfort of the patient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The presently claimed invention is a hospital garment for use by a patient. The garment may include a top, a pant, or both. The material used to construct the garment may be disposable, so that laundering and disinfecting, and the associated costs, may be avoided. The garment may also include at least one anti-bacterial agent to inhibit the incubation of bacteria.

The hospital garment top may include at least one opening covered by a flap, which may include a first seam and at least one closure that releasably secures the flap in a closed position. A second seam may be included to ease removal of the top from the patient. The second seam may also include a closure that releasably secures the second seam in a closed position on the patient. The hospital garment pant may include a third seam that eases removal of the pant from the patient, as well as at least one closure to releasably secure the pant on the patient.

The closure may be affixed to a surface of the material or embedded in the material. The closure may include a hook and loop type fastener, one or more snaps, or a combination of both.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of an exemplary hospital garment top according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross section along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, showing a closure of a seam of the hospital garment top of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a back view of the hospital garment top of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates the front view of the hospital garment top of FIG. 1 with flaps open.

FIG. 5 shows a front view of the hospital garment top with slash openings.

FIG. 6 shows a front view of the hospital garment top with slash openings.

FIG. 5 shows a front view of an exemplary hospital garment pant according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a back view of the hospital garment pant of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 shows a right side view of the hospital garment pant of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 illustrates a front view of a hospital garment pant with flaps and slash openings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1-6 illustrate an exemplary hospital garment top 100. FIGS. 7-10 illustrate an exemplary hospital garment pant 700. While it is envisioned that the top 100 and the pant 700 will typically be worn together, for ease of description, the description of the features of the garment will first be made with reference to the hospital garment top 100. It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that features deployed in the hospital garment top 100 may be readily applied to the hospital garment pant 700.

The hospital garment top 100 is intended to be worn by a patient in a medical facility. The hospital garment top 100 may be fabricated using a lightweight, absorbent material, typically a fabric 105. The material 105 may also be cloth, paper, plastic, etc. In some instances, the hospital garment top 100 may be worn by the patient and then thrown away, thus eliminating the difficult and expensive task of sanitizing the garment between successive uses.

The material 105 may include one or more anti-bacterial compounds. The anti-bacterial compounds help to keep the garment sterile, thereby minimizing the spread of any infection by inhibiting the growth of bacteria.

To facilitate putting on and removing the hospital garment top 100, seams 110 may be releasably secured with closures 115. The seams 110 may be positioned on the garment anywhere that would ease putting on and taking off the garment, or that would provide ready access to the body of the patient by the medical professional. As illustrated in FIG. 1, various embodiments of the garment have the seams 110 traditionally positioned along the shoulder line and arms of the patient. FIG. 6 show a slightly different rear seam positioning than that depicted in FIG. 3.

The hospital garment top 100 may further include flaps 120 that provide ready access to various portions of the body of the patient. The access may be utilized for various common medical procedures such as measuring a heart rate, attaching an EKG monitor, urology tests, listening to the lungs, etc. While FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment in which three flaps 120 are utilized, any number of flaps may be employed in various embodiments of the invention. Flaps and seams on the garment top 100 may be deployed wherever a user deems them to be desirable.

The flaps 120 may also be defined by seams 110 that are releasably secured in a closed position using closures 115. The closures 115 may allow seams 110 to be closed and opened multiple times for dressing and undressing the patient, and for access for required medical procedures. The releasable seams 110 ease the process of dressing and undressing the patient while the patient is in bed.

FIG. 4 illustrates the front view of the hospital garment top of FIG. 1 with flaps 120 in an open position. The flaps 120 may be folded back to provide openings for immediate access to various parts of the body of a patient. The openings on the hospital garment top 100 may provide access for nursing and monitoring procedures. The closures 115 in the seams 110 for the flaps 120 may be reusable to allow the flaps 120 to be opened and closed multiple times.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cross section taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1, of an exemplary mechanism for a closure 115 of a seam 110 for the hospital garment top 100 of FIG. 1. A first portion 125 of the closure 115 includes a material that adheres to a second portion 130 of the closure 115. Examples of closure 115 may include hook and loop type fasteners, materials with a tacky surface so that the two closure portions 125, 130 adhere to each other (such as various types of plastics), adhesives, magnetic materials, and the like. In short, any material or structure that will form a releasable connection may be utilized in the closures 115. The closure portions 125, 130 may be attached to a surface of the material 105. Alternatively, the closure portions 125, 130 may be embedded in the material 105.

As an alternative mechanism for securing seams 110, snaps 135 may be employed. The snaps 135 may be made from any suitable material, including but not limited to plastic, ceramic, metal, and the like. The snaps 135 may be used in addition to or instead of closures 115.

FIG. 5 shows an alternative method of access to the body of the patient. FIG. 5 illustrates that wherever access is desired, a slash opening 505 may be utilized. It is envisioned that slash openings 505 will typically be utilized for leads, probes, sensors, and the like.

The hospital garment pant 700 is illustrated in FIGS. 7-10. FIGS. 7-9 are respectively front, back, and side views of the hospital garment pant 700. FIG. 10 illustrates a hospital garment pant with slash openings 505.

The hospital garment pant 700 may be put on a patient and removed independently from the hospital garment top 100. The hospital garment pant 700 may include seams 110 that may be secured using closures 115. The seams 110 may be positioned at the inseam, outseam, or wherever the user desires. A seam 110 may define a fly of the hospital garment pant 700.

The hospital garment pant 700 may be secured at the waist of a patient using a cord or drawstring 705. The hospital garment pant 700 may include slash openings 505, flaps 120, or both, as illustrated in FIG. 10. The flaps 120 may be secured using closures 115. The hospital garment top 100 and/or the hospital garment pant 700 may be disposable.

As described above, similar methods of closure of the seams 110 that are used for the hospital garment top 100 may be utilized for the hospital garment pant 700. The similarity of securing mechanism extends to the supplemental or alternative use of snaps 135.

To secure the hospital garment pant 700 at the waist of the patient, a drawstring 705 or similar belt-type device may be utilized. Because of the presence of the releasable seams 110, even with the drawstring 705 secured, medical personnel may freely access the lower body of the patient.

By including both a top 100 and a pant 700, various embodiments of the invention provide ready access to the body of a patient through various seamed openings. The seamed openings may be releasably secured so that the garment may be used multiple times. By providing both a top and a pant, the garment also adds to the comfort of the patient. The garment is also very easy to put on and take off. Moreover, because both a pant and a top are provided, patients may feel comfortable wearing the garment home after discharge from the medical facility.

The embodiments discussed herein are illustrative of the present invention. As these embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to illustrations, various modifications or adaptations of the methods and or specific structures described may become apparent to those skilled in the art. All such modifications, adaptations, or variations that rely upon the teachings of the present invention, and through which these teachings have advanced the art, are considered to be within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Hence, these descriptions and drawings should not be considered in a limiting sense, as it is understood that the present invention is in no way limited to only the embodiments illustrated. 

1. A hospital garment for use by a patient, the garment comprising: a top constructed from a material, the top including at least one opening covered by a flap, the flap including a first seam, the first seam having a first closure that releasably secures the flap in a closed position, and a second seam having a second closure that releasably secures the second seam in a closed position on the patient, wherein releasing the second closure allows removal of the top from the patient; and a pant including at least a third seam, the third seam having a third closure to releasably secure the pant on the patient, wherein releasing the third closure allows removal of the pant from the patient.
 2. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein the material is disposable.
 3. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein the material includes at least one anti-bacterial compound.
 4. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein at least one of the closures is affixed to a surface of the material.
 5. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein at least one of the closures is embedded in the material.
 6. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein at least one of the closures comprises a hook and loop type fastener.
 7. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein at least one of the closures comprises a snap.
 8. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein the at least one closure comprises a hook and loop type fastener and one or more snaps.
 9. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein the pant further includes a drawstring to secure the pant at the waist of a patient.
 10. The hospital garment of claim 1, wherein the garment further includes at least one slash opening.
 11. A hospital garment for use by a patient, the garment comprising: a top constructed from a material, the top including at least one opening covered by a flap, the flap including a first seam having a first closure that releasably secures the flap in a closed position, and a second seam including a second closure that releasably secures the second seam in a closed position on the patient, wherein releasing the second closure allows removal of the top from the patient.
 12. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein the material is disposable.
 13. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein the material includes at least one anti-bacterial compound.
 14. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein at least one of the closures is affixed to a surface of the material.
 15. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein at least one of the closures is embedded in the material.
 16. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein at least one of the closures comprises a hook and loop type fastener.
 17. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein at least one of the closures comprises a snap.
 18. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein the at least one closure comprises a hook and loop type fastener and one or more snaps.
 19. The hospital garment of claim 11, wherein the garment further includes at least one slash opening.
 20. A hospital garment for use by a patient, the garment comprising: a pant formed from a material and including at least one seam, the seam including at least one closure to releasably secure the pant on the patient, wherein releasing the at least one closure allows removal of the pant from the patient.
 21. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the material is disposable.
 22. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the material includes at least one anti-bacterial compound.
 23. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the at least one closure is affixed to a surface of the material.
 24. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the at least one closure is embedded in the material.
 25. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the at least one closure comprises a hook and loop type fastener.
 26. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the at least one closure comprises one or more snaps.
 27. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the at least one closure comprises a hook and loop type fastener and one or more snaps.
 28. The hospital garment of claim 20, wherein the garment further includes at least one slash opening. 